A gameplay walkthrough was uploaded for Lost Planet 3 pretty recently and we’ve linked it below. If we’re honest, it really doesn’t fill us with hope for this narrative prequel. It looks functionally very awkward and the QTE’s (or re-branded “struggle” moments) appear to be pretty damn tedious. Even the rig setup seems just a bit crap. Admittedly the final controls could assuage our worries but it doesn’t look like a fluid game. Comparing this to the bloody wonderful E.X. Troopers, where all the game videos looked super tight and that then being proved true with the recent demos, makes this new Lost Planet 3 footage come across as though the final game could very well be a bit pants. Anyway, we’ll know for sure once the game gets released.

As part of a SEGA Model 2 Collection, the original Virtual On will be released on both XBLA and PSN. Whilst the release date and price are unknown as yet, the port will feature online versus functionality. In addition, for the PS3 version, HORI are releasing a new pair of TwinSticks (costing 30,000 yen a piece). What’s especially interesting about this news is that both the PS3 and 360 will be getting the game, whereas in the past the HD ports of Oratan and Force were 360 exclusives. The release of these new PS3 sticks could also indicate a further release of the other games that also graced the 360 (fingers crossed). Anyway, this is good news and despite once owning an arcade cabinet of the game and all manner of other home ports, it’s always nice to see the original Virtual On getting some continued love.

There have been some interesting reveals at this year’s All-Japan Model Hobby Show as well as via Kotobuikya. In regards to the latter, Kotobukiya’s output has birthed the rather incredible kit above from Armored Core V (as was mentioned a while back). The sculpt being something of truly amazing finesse and it seems that there will be all manner of other kits available for it too (including tanks and helicopters from the game), so you can build your very own diorama.

Moving on from that, Wave have shown a variety of new garage kits. From Galient to Vifam, though what has really peaked our interest is this lovely Layzner Mk. II kit. Hasegawa even previewed a new Kagekiyo kit from Virtual On Force. If you want to see more of the hobby show, then AmiAmi has lots of lovely photos here, here and here.

The shop page for the forthcoming Hanged Man Super Robot Chogokin from Armored Core V has been updated. Featuring what looks like an improved hangar articulation setup (shown above), Bandai clearly haven’t been idle in terms of the toy’s engineering. In addition, there’s a brief interview with Keiji Fujiwara; the seiyuu who voiced Chief in the Japanese version of the game. Still no word on the Western release of this toy as yet but once we know more we’ll be sure to let you know

As was partially previewed in a few trailers a while ago, we now know for sure that the upcoming Halo 4 will feature a pilotable mecha. Called the Mantis it bears a strong similarity to the Gekko seen in the Metal Gear Solid games. That aside it looks like it might be good fun to use and the design itself is actually pretty boss too. It seems that all modern shooters now have token mecha in them, which is a bit odd really.

As previewed a while back, the next toy from Armored Core V looks like it will actually get released. However, it’s going to be sold via Bandai’s premium online shop and normally this means it will be only available in Japan. That said, From Software have mentioned via Facebook that there are plans to release this toy abroad. In any case, the pre-orders start today and it will be released in February of next year. In addition, it’s also a bit more expensive than the last toy (at 7,350 yen) but this may mean it includes the Over Weapon parts too. As soon as we know more, we’ll let you know.

Following on from the Naked Jehuty announcement, it now also seems that a Revoltech of the Ardjet orbital frame (shown above) will also be released at some point in the future. It’s a slightly strange choice for a figure, as Ardjet is a rather minor antagonist and lacks the same kind of fan fervour generated by Vic Viper. In any case, it seems that Konami are keen to pump these Zone of the Enders toys out to help promote the HD versions released in October.

Shown on Hideo Kojima’s Twitter account (as well as on Konami’s own Tumblr), we now have the inevitable Revoltech of Naked Jehuty. This being the final form of the orbital frame as seen at the end of Anubis (as shown below). This particular toy is a prototype that will be shown at the forthcoming Tokyo Game Show, so no news yet on a release date or price. As with all the Revoltech Jehuty toys, this is the one we’ve been waiting for and the sculpt and paint job look excellent.

We now finally have a nice artbook for Armored Core V on the way. Released at the end of this week, it comes in at 224 A4 pages and only costs 2,940 yen. Considering that the game has a pretty interesting mecha design background it will be great to finally have a decent collection of the game’s concept artwork. If you’re interested in picking one up, then you can buy it here.

With the Zone of the Enders HD Collection set for release next month, Konami are beginning to start their endgame PR push. Part of this is the release of the HD version of Anubis’ opening (linked below). This is the exact same opening that was on the 2003 PS2 game, so they’ve basically re-done the exact same game capture footage from the new HD version. Whilst that may sound trivial, it’s really very not. That aside, it did make us feel that this generation hasn’t really done very much when a game from 2003, that we didn’t overly enjoy in the first place, made us feel excited just from its opening movie.